Toka Valu

Art, Illustration, &
Design for storytelling, making a statement, and building communities

Toka Valu is an indigenous Pacific Islander artist and illustrator with over fifteen years of illustration work, visual arts expertise, workshop facilitation, and community organizing experience. Toka’s artistic and design influences are deeply rooted and informed by his cultural upbringing as a Tongan, now expatriate, living with his partner and child in Seattle, WA.

For over ten years, he was a key part of developing and implementing several campus wide initiatives as a staff member with the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity at the University of Washington, Seattle (UW). These included the creation of the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center’s interactive tour format, development and advising of the UW’s Oceanic Pacific Islander Studies minor, and several interdepartmental collaborative endeavors that have now become part of the University’s slate of annual events.

Today, he is eternally grateful, motivated, and galvanized by the countless individuals, mentors, and communities who have supported his growth in higher education, in his community work, and especially in his art. This has profoundly impacted Toka’s capacity as a visual storyteller and has helped situate him in a unique position to provide astute perspectives on today’s geopolitical and social climate though his art & design skill.

“Matangi lelei to ki he la mahaehae” ~ “Favorable voyaging winds are never suited for tattered sails.”

— Tongan maritime proverb.

  • Dynamic Seas (right)

  • Fakatu'i

  • Dynamic Seas (left)

  • Tutupakanava